20 Simple Tips to Losing Weight and Keeping It Off
27 Jan 2010 2 Comments
in Diet & Fitness Tags: diet, exercise, fitness, wellness
Hello everyone!
Anyone who is conscious about their weight and what they eat absolutely dreads the holidays because of all desserts and cookies our co-workers, friends, and family members are baking and throwing in our faces.
According to That’sFit.com, due to all the social holiday soirée thrown by our family, friends, and employers, most people have a tendency to gain anywhere from five to ten pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have compiled 20 simple tips for getting you and your diet back on track if you are still carrying around a few extra reminders of what a great time you had over the 2009 holiday season.
- Get all that junk food out of your house…IMMEDIATELY! Clear out ALL the snacks because if it’s not in the house, you won’t eat it. So pitch all the unfinished bags of chips, candy, cookies, fudge, dips and whatever else is fattening and totally unhealthy….if you are not comfortable throwing food away, then bring it to the office or donate it to a relative who needs to gain weight…just get rid of it and out of reach. Then you want to replace all that junk food with healthy snacks such as fresh fruit, veggies, or fat free yogurt. Also, do not buy snacks that are processed or already prepared. You will snack less if you have to prepare it yourself.
- Start lunch and dinner with a large, healthy, filling salad and use only a low fat, or better yet, fat-free dressing. By doing this, you will fill your appetite with salad leaving less room for the fattening foods. So, go crazy and throw in a ton of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, or any other veggies you love and eat, eat, eat. Just make sure you DO NOT use iceberg lettuce because it has absolutely no nutritional value what-so-ever so don’t even bother wasting your time or money.
- Start making a few simple substitutions rather than making over your entire diet. You want to do this because making over an entire diet is such a big task that many people get frustrated and just give up. So you want to do things like swap out your morning orange juice for cranberry or tomato juice because they are lower in sugar. Another thing you want to do is drink water rather than diet soda because artificial sweeteners flip a switch in your brain that tells your body to start storing all incoming calories as fat.
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep at night. Now, I’m not saying this for the health benefits you get from sleep. I’m saying this because you can’t eat while you’re sleeping. Try going to bed early because the earlier you go to bed the less time you have to snack after dinner and, the best part is…..you can save up to 220 calories a day! If you do this, be sure to wait at least 3 hours after eating dinner before going to bed because you don’t want your dinner sitting in your stomach when you go to bed otherwise you are defeating the purpose of this step.
- Want to burn an additional 500 calories every day? Well, it’s really easy. All you need to do is the following: park your car as far away as possible from your office building, supermarket, or mall entrance; walk up at least 3 flights of stairs 3 times every day; every ½ hour or so walk around the interior of your office if it’s fairly big or around the office building; and if you can avoid using the email, get up out of your chair and visit your co-workers office or cubicle if you need to discuss business; and finally keep your body constantly active by tapping your feet as much as you can. Do these things everyday and you will burn those 500 calories according to Dr. James Levine author of Move A Little, Lose A Lot.
- Eat the same lunch everyday. Apparently, people with too much variety in their diet tend to be heavier. Now, I bet you are all wondering why this is…right? Well, the more variety there is, the more you will eat. So for example, people offered bowls of M&M’s in 10 different colors ate 40 percent more than those offered only seven colors. Also, when flavors are mixed….we have a tendency to eat more because our brain plays a nasty trick on us by making us think we are only eating a little of everything but, overall, actually adds up to a lot of food.
- Grill or bake a reasonable portion of protein, preferably chicken breast. Then use spices and fresh herbs rather than sauces because sauces usually have a lot of sugar in them. If you need a sauce because you feel chicken breast is too dry, then marinate the chicken breasts in a low fat or fat-free Italian dressing for an hour or more to give it some moisture.
- Keep your carbs to the bare minimum because it’s carbs that keep your body craving for more food. So cut out any pasta, rice, and bread at least six days out of the week but if you absolutely have to have carbs every day, then only eat about 100 grams a day.
- Give yourself one day each week where you have that slice of pizza or scoop of ice cream. Whatever you do, DO NOT BINGE! So, for example, if you have to have that Blizzard at Dairy Queen, then get a small or kid-size Blizzard.
- Get moving! You need to get back to your regular workout as soon as possible. If haven’t worked out, then you absolutely have to start. You boost your metabolism through fast walking, dancing, hiking, or the often-dreaded gym for at least a half hour three times a week. Also, try to add in some weight training because building muscle will burn off fat. Make sure you do something fun so you keep doing it.
- Don’t eat giant portions at fast food restaurants. In the United Kingdom a large Coke contains 100 fewer calories than a large Coke in the United States. In the United Kingdom there is no such thing as a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese. The lesson here? Save fast food for your weekly binge meal or if you must absolutely have it….cut your burger, your fries, and your drink in half and eat one half and throw the other half in the garbage. If you don’t want to waste food like that then order the kids meal.
- Eat more rice and beans. In Brazil they eat rice and beans with almost every meal. Apparently this is a good idea because according to a study in the journal Obesity Research, they found that a diet consisting primarily of rice and beans lowers the risk of becoming overweight by about 14 percent. Rice and beans are low in fat and high in fiber – which can help stabilize blood sugar levels, and low blood sugar causes food cravings. Now, many of you may be thinking….but Violette, beans makes me flatulate. Here’s a secret….buy dried beans and soak your beans for twenty-four hours before cooking them and that will eliminate any chance of you worrying about flatulation.
- In Hungary, they eat anything pickled; for example pickled bell peppers, cabbage, and tomatoes. Why would eating pickled foods help keep you thin? It has something to do with the vinegar. Growing evidence suggests that the main component of vinegar helps reduce blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and…the best part…the formation of fat. If you are not a fan of pickled cabbage…eat pickles, or better yet, when you’re eating that huge salad before lunch and dinner, use oil and vinegar instead of your favorite low fat or fat free dressing.
- Ride your bike more often. This tip comes from the Netherlands. Apparently over half of bike owners in the Netherlands use them for daily activities such as shopping and traveling to work. Don’t live close enough to work to bike there? Then get on a stationary bike at home or at the gym and spend an hour at a moderate pace and you’ll easily burn 550 calories. If you did this twice a week you could lose approximately 16 pounds a year! Just imagine how much you could lose if you did this every day. So, if you run errands close to home, leave your car keys behind and take your bike instead.
- Eat 3 meals a day. In France, this is how the women keep their slender shape. They don’t skip any meals; this keeps them from allowing their bodies to go for long periods of time without food; therefore they don’t overeat when they do have a meal. As a side note, in Sweden, they eat very small meals every three hours or five times a day. So you take your pick.
- Eat more fish…and I don’t mean the breaded and fried kind. Fish, (when steamed, broiled or baked) is a great source of protein, it contains Omega 3 fatty acids which is incredibly good for you, and it’s low in fat and calories. The Japanese eat more fish than any other culture in the world…and I’m not just talking about sushi either; they eat many other types of non-sushi fish as well.
- Drink Chinese green tea twice a day. This can improve your heart health and it will help you get and stay slim. The polyphenols in green tea will increase your body’s ability to quickly and effectively metabolize fat when consumed with meals.
- In Greece, they eat meals filled with healthy fats that are found in olive oil. Diets rich in olive oil will speed weight loss. Now I realize this seems counterintuitive, but an increase in monounsaturated fat increases the body’s ability to break down stored fat. They also eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Increasing your intake of veggies and fruits ups your fiber intake. Fiber helps you feel fuller sooner and stay that way longer. Fiber also helps you flush toxins from the body. The Grecians drink lots of Red wine. Red wine contains metabolism-boosting properties. Apparently red wine contains flavonoid polyphenol that can offset the negative effects of a high-calorie diet – and help you lose weight on a healthy diet. In case you’re wondering, flavonoid polyphenol is the chemical responsible for the deep red color in red wines.
- In India, they follow ayurveda which is their 5,000-year-old approach to wellness. According to ayurveda, we are designed to eat the larger meal at lunch because of our digestive fire called agni is strongest between 10AM and 2PM; so we digest food more efficiently. According to Jennifer Workman, a Boulder, Colorado-based ayurveda specialist, registered dietitian, and author of Stop Your Cravings, she has seen people in her practice drop 5 to 10 pounds just by doing this.
- And finally….exercise, exercise, exercise. I realize this tip is a repeat of tip number 10. But folks…I cannot stress how important this tip is. You’ve absolutely got to get off the couch and away from the tv and computer screens because there is no pill or crash diet that will help you lose weight and keep it off for life.
I make a promise to those of you who have decided to try this…not only will you lose the weight you gained over the holidays but you can easily drop 30 pounds if you follow the tips above, do a half hour of cardio and a half hour of weight training every day. I can make this promise because I have done this. So if I can do it…so can you.
Good luck everyone!
Let’s Get Physical With Violette Illusions
27 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Let's Get Physical with Violette Illusions
I am not a diet or fitness guru. I am just someone who has had success in losing a great deal of weight in the last year. I have spent a considerable amount of time reading diet and fitness magazines and websites. I decided to start this segment on the show because I wanted to share the secret to my success. Like many people, I have tried all the diets and taken all the pills that have helped me slim down and then regain the weight I lost and more. What I have learned in this last year is that the trick to losing weight and keeping it off is exercise everyday, make sensible choices when you eat, and start saying no to the things that will make you fat; of course, during the holidays you can cheat a little, but eat very small portions of the bad things and DON’T stop exercising everyday.
I hope my tips help you as much as they have helped me. If you have any questions, you can email me at violette_doubletalkradio@live.com or you can ask your question by commenting on one of my posts.
Good luck!
Paranormal Activity is All Hype
06 Nov 2009 3 Comments
During the recording of Episode 11 (October 6th) of Double Talk Radio, when we started doing our Shocktober series, a listener had brought up Paranormal Activity and provided us the URL to the movies website, http://www.paranormalactivity-movie.com. I immediately checked out the site and was pumped to see the film. I had decided then that I would see and then review it on our final Shocktober show on October 27th (Episode 14).
Paranormal Activity is a film about a young couple, Katie and Micah (pronounced: mee-cah), who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. Micah, who is a self-made day trader, a jock and a technology nerd, decides to buy an expensive video camera in the hopes of capturing paranormal activity on film. He sets up the camera on a tripod in their bedroom to capture any of the activity they have been experiencing. Katie, a student, is less rational and a part-time believer in the occult, is not so sure but she capitulates to Micah’s whims anyway. Soon, as expected, the night-time footage, shot from a single continuous vantage point at the foot of the couple’s big bed, proves revealing – a door moves inches on it’s own, a sheet billows inexplicably, footprints appear across the polished floorboards. The drama escalates; a Ouija board spontaneously combusts, Katie sleepwalks, a psychic arrives and quickly flees from the home’s “negative energy,” and the demonic force eventually shows its teeth and it’s considerable physicla strength.
The film, directed by Oren Peli, is presented in a documentary style, using found footage from the camera set up by the couple to capture what is haunting them; much like the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project. Peli admits that The Blair Witch Project was his source of inspiration and the similarities are self-evident. So, with only $10,000, a crew of three, a Sony video camera and two actors (Featherston and Sloat were paid $500 for their services), Peli filmed the movie in his own San Diego house over seven days and nights; shooting around the clock and with very little sleep.
I must say, I remember al the hype about The Blair Witch Project and when I finally went to see the film and I was less than impressed. To be frank, I hated the movie because it annoyed me rather than scare me. But, I was not going to let my feelings of The Blair Witch Project taint my movie-watching experience during Paranormal Activity.
The movie begins giving you the impression that the film is a true story using written narration; I suppose this is a ploy to make the film even more frightening than it’s premise makes it out to be. Don’t be fooled by this, it’s not a true story and it’s not that scary. I found the movie to be rather boring for the most part. I spent most of the time bored, a little seasick from the movement of the camera, and waiting for the big scare that, much to my chagrin, never came. I remember there was a point, in the middle of the movie where I actually wondered if I should have opted to see Saw VI or the remake of The Stepfather instead. Sad but true.
For weeks, Paranormal Activity has been a trending topic on Twitter, I have been reading tweets about how frightened they were during the movie or how they were having nightmares from the movie. Really? Nightmares? Wow, what was I getting myself into? I soon found out. Absolutely nothing.
A Tragic End
27 Aug 2009 3 Comments
Any murder is a terrible crime that I wish didn’t exist. Jasmine Fiore’s name has been in the headlines because of her brutal murder. Her killer….her own husband, Ryan Jenkins. Jasmine and Ryan met at a Las Vegas club in March and married less than a week later. They were a gorgeous couple who lived the typical, celebrity, Las Vegas lifestyle of constant excessive partying and debauchery. This was definitely a match made in hell and a marriage that was doomed before it even began.
Jasmine Fiore was a sexy and savvy young woman with a great head for business and a body that every man desired; she knew how to “work it” to get what she wanted. She had worked for Playboy not at a playmate, as had been initially reported, but as an events coordinator. Then she moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas where she worked a number of jobs as a dealer, cocktail waitress, and modeling. Her friends and family claimed that she watched her money like a hawk and saved every penny she could. She had revealed plans to open up a fitness club in Los Angeles before her murder occurred.
Ryan Jenkins was a not-so-successful business man who was always looking for a quick buck but liked to run around telling everyone he had a lot of money; apparently he lived that lifestyle too. I’m going to assume, even though I don’t like to make assumptions, that one of the reasons why he appeared in two reality shows, Meghan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money 3, for VH1 was due to his excessive lifestyle finally catching up with him and he desperately needed to make some quick money.
Other than the obvious, no one really knows what reasons these two had for getting involved and then getting married so quickly. It has been reported the only commonality they had was they either shared the same birth date or their birthdays were very close together. It has been speculated, Ryan’s reason for being with Jasmine was purely monetary. But there’s no proof she had any substantial amount of money. As far as Jasmine is concerned, there really aren’t any speculations on what her motivation was for being with Ryan other than possible rebound from a previous relationship with a man named Robert. I’m going to speculate it was purely monetary as well; especially since he liked to run around bragging about the kind of money he had.
On the night of the murdered, Jasmine and Ryan were in San Diego with friends where they played poker that the Hilton and then went to the Ivy for drinks. Sources told ABC News that she was constantly putting him down which made for an awkward scene. It has been reported that Jasmine was a heavy drinker who could get really out of control. She had been seen a few times kissing other men behind Ryan’s back, or so she thought. But she had told a friend that she had walked in on Ryan and another woman having sex in her living room.
Like I had said earlier, this union was doomed from the start. Two people meet in a strip club and then days later tie the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel…..this is not a “until death do we part” marriage. Also the fact that their relationship was completely filled with high drama moments….they were either completely making out with each other or at each other’s throats because either he or she got jealous for one reason or another. Don’t people realize that if you decide to be with a gorgeous man or woman that there is a very good chance they will get a great deal of attention from the opposite sex. Obviously, these two were the jealous type and they both wanted, and needed, a great deal of attention not only from each other, but from others as well.
From what I’ve read and heard, it seems to me that she was still in love with Robert, her ex-boyfriend. It has been reported that Jasmine and Ryan had fought at Ivy about a phone call she had been on around 12:30 in the morning. She told Ryan that it was her mother and he didn’t believe her so he just kept pressing her to tell him the truth and it just exploded from there.
I personally feel she emasculated him by her constant flirtations with other men at the clubs that they frequented. But I don’t think this is any excuse for brutally murdering her the way he did. I had a feeling that he would commit suicide because his capture was inevitable and he knew he would most likely face the same fate as Scott Peterson…..a life on death row waiting for his execution.
